Door-closer



L. C. NORTON. DOOR CLOSER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1a, 1918 Patented July 6 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. Jgj Q L. C. NORTON.

DOOR CLOSER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, I918.

Patented July 6, 192W.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UlTED STATES.

LEWIS anon'ron, or CHICAGO, ILLIiIoIs.

To all whom may camera- Improvements Door-Closers, of Whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact ClGSCI'lPtlOll, reference being had to the ac- .companying drawing, forming-f" a part ofthis specification. a

My invention relates to improvements in door closers, and particularly to door closers for usein closinghinged fire doors, and the i like.

Une. of'the objects of my inventionis to provide *a door closer which is provided with means permitting a hinged door to remain openand which at thesame t1me,.1n event of a fire, w1ll automatically close the door. y

For the purpose of. disclosing my inven tion I have illustrated certaln embodlments thereof in the accompanying drawings. In

said drawings- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a door closer! embodying my invention;

a. modification of hit Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

.Figs. 3 and, 4: are detail sectionalviews showing particularly the catch used in corn nection with my closer;

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views showing the catch illustrated in Figs. and l; Y

Fig/Z is a sectional view showing a still further modification thereof; 0

Fig.8 isaplan view of amodification of my invention;

F g. 9; is aside elevation thereof; and

l igs. 110 and 1 1; are detail sections showiugthe form of spring used in CODII'BOillOll with the check andthe supplementary arm.

in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 toe l. provide aldoor closer which comprises, in general, a cylinder 1, a spring operated arm 2 and a lever 3. The springoperated arm 2 is mounted upon a springrotated shaft L, which shaft is connected bya suitablemechanismwith a piston open ating in the cylinder 1,"the piston be1ng so arranged that; while it will permit the to be rotated freely in a clockwise direction for a predetermined length of time, it will check] the contiued movement of the arm to slow the same down, so that the ,doorwill not go shut Wlth a bang.

The. check, comprising the cylinder and its noozaonosnn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

frame.

Patented Jul 6,1920.

. Application filed March 18, 1918. Serial No. 223,143.

. is of such construction that when the door '7 is opened, the tendency of the spring surrounding the shaft 4: is to rotate the arm 2 ina clockwise direction, thereby closing the door. The arm 2 is provided with an extension 8 beyond the pivot 5, and this extension at its outer end has formed there on aspring clamp, by bifurcating or splitting the end horizontally to form a socket 9. The edges of this socket are beveled, as at 10, to form a guide to the socket, and passing through the end of the arm, so that the size of this socket may be adjusted, is a screw 11. lvlounted on the arm 3, being preferably secured to the under side by a screw 12, is a catch 13, the free end of which is slightly tapered and adaptedto fit in the socket 9, when the door is open,

to lock the arms 2 and 3 together, thereby long as this catch is in operative position.

The friction engagement of the catch 13 in the socket 9 is suflicient to hold the door open against the action of the springin the door closer. On the other hand, a slight pull on the door will disengage this catch and permit the door to swing closed. This latch isofa peculiar construction, as shown in Fig. 3, and consists of a pair of links. One link of the latch isprovided witha hooked end l l which fits in a curved end 15 in the opposite link, the two links being secured together at this point by a suitable fusible metal, preferably a solder, and

forming by this construction a continuous latch. Tn event of a fire, with the door held open by the latch, the fusible solder holding the two links of the latch together will melt, thereby permitting these two links to separate and releasing the door, so that it will swing shut under the influence ofthe door closer.

InFigs, 5 and 6 I have shown a modification of the catch illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4., inclusive. In this modification the extension 8 is provided with a dog 16, being pivotally held on the arm by means of the In the structure 'from the pin20. leased it-will swing shut,under theinfluence {of the spring of the door closer, before the screw 17. 'The free end of this dog is slightly above the pivotalpoint, so that the dog isslightly ofi' center. The dog is held down'by means of a coiled spring 18. They catch 13 is loosely held on the under side of the arm 3, instead of being rigidly held .thereon, and its outer end is'provided with a down-turned hook 19,, adapted, when the door is swung to its full open positlon, to

rideup over'the dog 16 and engage theouter end'of the dog and thereby hold the door'open. Due to the fact that the dog is slightlyoff center, a pull on the door will rotate'the dog 16 about its pivot, allowing the .catch 19 eventually to disengage therefrom and-permitting the door then to swing to, underthe influence of the door closer. At the same time the dog, under the influence ofthe spring 18, will fly back to its normal position, rea'dy to be engaged again by; the catch 19 when it is desired to hold the door open.

illustrated in Fig. 7 -I have illustrated still another modification of my fusible link catch. In this structure the upperside' of the extension 8 is provided with a boss or pin 20, while the link 13 at its outer endis provided with an opening adapted, when the extension 8 is swung beneath the link, to engageover the pin 20 and hold the door open, the link 13 being loosely mounted on theunder side of the arm 3, .so that it will have a certain amount ofvertic al playatits free end. When it is desired to:close*thedoor, a slight push on the'door in its open'direction will cause the'edg'e of the extension 8 to engage the 1 under side ofthe hooked portion of the link,

which",'a'ctingas a cam, will cause the end of the li-nkto ride up, disengaging the opening If the door is then re opening in the link can againengage the pin-20 to lock the door open.

It is to be noted in respect to this manner of holding the dooropeii that the latch 10 is held out when the door is held open in approximately the center of the doorway, where it will be' in a position to be speedily affected by the heat ofthe fire. I

In the structure shown in Figs. 8 to 11 I have illustrated another form of means for holding the two lever arms in their substantially alined positions. In this form I provide a spring-rotated lever arm 21 mounted upon a suitable arm 22, secured to the door frame. This lever arm 21 tends to rotate in a counterclockwise direction under the influence of a suitable coiled spring 23 mounted on the arm 22 within a suitable inclosing casing and having one end connected to the shaft on which the arm 21 is rigidly mounted and the other end secured to the arm 22. Theend of this arm is connected 7 the influence of the door closer.

by a connecting rod, 24 to the arm 3 at a point near the pivotal connection 5. Interposed in the rod 24 is a fusible link 25 of substantially the same construction as the catch 13; that is, it consists of two sections suitably held together by a solder which melts at a predetermined temperature. The strength of the 'spring23 is such that when the arms 2 and 3 are in substantial alinement, that is, when the door is opened 90 degrees, as shown in the drawing, the spring 23, due to the fact that the arms 2 and 3 are nearly on a dead center and the arms 24 and 21 are nearly on a dead center, has a greater pull than the spring in the door check, thereby holding the arms 2 and 3 in their alined position and preventing the door fromclosing. In event, however, it is desired to close the door, a slight pull on the part of the operator will reverse this unbalanced condition. As the arms 2 and 3 will be moved farther past the dead center, and in view of the fact that the spring of the door check is stronger than the sprin 23, the spring of the door check will ten to close the door. As the door moves closed and the arm 2 moves past the point where it is extending at right an les to the door, the pull of the spring 23 wi l coincide with the pull of the spring of the door closer to assist in the further closing of the door. This assisting of the spring of the door check is decidedly advantageous in certain positions where there is a strong draft passing through the doorway, as the resistance to be overcome by the spring of the door check increases as the door closes, and the additional pull of the spring 18 aids the spring of the door check in overcoming this resistance.

lVhen the'door is open, in event of a fire the heat of the fire will melt the soldered connection of the two sections of the link 25, thereby disconnecting the arm 21 and the arm 3 and the door will move closed under In this form of device as well as the form illustrated 7 in" Figs. 1 to 3 it will be seen that the fusiblelink is held out toward the center of the door, where it is in the path of the heat of the fire and readily fusible.

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

' 1. The combination with a door closer, including a pair of arms pivotally connected together, one of which is pivotally connected to the door frame and the other of which is pivotally connected to the door, means tending to move said arms from substantial alinement when the" door is open toward substantial parallelism to close the door, one of said arms extending beyond the pivotal connection, and a fusible latch connectin said extension with the other arm to hold said arms in substantial alinement to prevent the door from closing.

2. The combination with a door closer comprising a pair of pivotally connected arms, one of which is pivotally connected to the door and the other of which is pivotally connected to the door frame, means tending to move said arms from substantial alinement to substantial parallelism to close the door, one of said arms having an eXten sion beyond the pivotal connection between the two, a latch on the under side of one of said arms comprising a pair of links connected together by fusible material, a catch on the extension of the other arm adapted to be engaged by said latch when the door is moved to an open position, and a cam on the under side of said latch adapted to disengage the latch from said catch when the door is forcibly pushed further open.

3. The combination with a door closer comprising a pair of arms pivotally connected together, one of said arms being pivotally connected to the door and the other being pivotally connected to the door frame, and means tending to move said arms from substantial alinement to substantial parallelism to close the door, one of said arms having an extension thereof beyond the pivotal connection point, of a gravity latch on the other arm, a catch on said extension adapted to be engaged by said latch when the arms are moved to substantial alinement, said latch comprising a pair of links connected together by fusible material whereby when the temperature rises to a predetermined point the latch will separate and permit the arms to close the door.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

LEWIS G. NORTON. 

